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Category Archives: Coronavirus

On April 6, 2020, the California State Judicial Council adopted Emergency Rule 9 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[1] As originally approved, the rule tolled the statute of limitations for all civil causes of action from April 6, 2020 until 90 days after the Governor lifts the current State of Emergency Declaration related to the … Continue Reading

On a unanimous vote yesterday, May 6, 2020, the Los Angeles City Council passed an ordinance (“New Ordinance“) amending rules in the Los Angeles Municipal Code that temporarily prohibit the eviction of residential and commercial tenants in the City of Los Angeles for failure to pay rent due to COVID-19. Notably, the New Ordinance would … Continue Reading

In an earlier post, we covered the local Shelter-in-Place (“SIP”) orders, which severely restricted construction activities throughout the Bay Area. This week the participating jurisdictions (Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara Counties) updated their SIP orders to ease restrictions on construction. The changes took effect May 4 and will continue … Continue Reading

On April 23, 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom issued Executive Order N-54-20 (EO) which, in part, addresses an outstanding question related to the California Environmental Quality Act’s (CEQA) “public review” requirements, which quickly became problematic upon closure of the locations typically used to house and post CEQA-related documents. These closures, which impact government buildings like … Continue Reading

On April 10, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued Interim Guidance regarding EPA decision-making with respect to the potential impacts of the current novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on field work at certain cleanup sites. The Interim Guidance, which “supplements” a March 19 EPA guidance, applies to all contaminated sites where EPA is the … Continue Reading

On April 9, 2020, the IRS issued Notice 2020-23 (the “Notice”) which expands the filing and payment deadline relief announced by the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) in March. The March announcement gave taxpayers until July 15, 2020 to file their federal income tax returns and to pay federal income taxes, each of which were originally … Continue Reading

Last week the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) continued to issue orders, notices, and guidance related to the current novel coronavirus pandemic, the health and safety of FERC and energy industry employees, and the continued reliability of the U.S. energy sector. A summary of FERC’s relevant actions are provided below, including information regarding FERC’s operating … Continue Reading

As state and local governments act to address the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, relief for renters impacted by the coronavirus has come from both state and local policymakers. In previous posts, we covered San Francisco’s and San Diego’s efforts to temporarily ban evicting residential and commercial tenants impacted by COVID-19. In this post, … Continue Reading

On April 6, 2020, the State Judicial Council adopted emergency amendments to the California Rules of Court in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. One important change that affects many real estate transactions and development projects tolls the statute of limitations for all civil causes of action from April 6, 2020, until 90 days after the Governor … Continue Reading

In a continued effort to take aggressive steps to protect the health and welfare of its citizens from COVID-19, the City of San Diego (“City”) enacted a temporary moratorium on evictions to provide relief to residential and commercial tenants facing financial hardship related to the pandemic (the “Ordinance”) and established a Small Business Relief Fund (“SBRF”) to provide grants and forgivable or … Continue Reading

As the number of COVID-19 cases continues to rise, state and local officials in California are taking increasingly aggressive action to stop the virus’ spread through Shelter-in-Place (“SIP”) orders. In addition to Governor Newsom’s statewide SIP order, six Bay Area counties – San Francisco, Santa Clara, San Mateo, Marin, Contra Costa, and Alameda – have … Continue Reading

As of the beginning of April, more than one million Californians have applied for unemployment assistance. While state and local officials are seeking to address this aspect of the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic in a number of ways, renter protections are among the most visible measures to emerge. In San Francisco, Mayor London … Continue Reading

On Tuesday, March 31, 2020, Governor Greg Abbott issued an Executive Order effective 12:01 A.M., Thursday, April 2, 2020, directing every person in Texas to minimize social gatherings and minimize in-person contact with people who are not in the same household, except where necessary to provide or obtain essential services. The Executive Order issued by … Continue Reading

On Friday, March 27, 2020, the Los Angeles City Council adopted an emergency ordinance (Ordinance No. 186585) (“Ordinance”) with sweeping protections for commercial and residential tenants. Yesterday afternoon, March 31, 2020, Mayor Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles signed the Ordinance, which became effective immediately.… Continue Reading

On Thursday, March 26, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) announced and issued a Memo establishing an agency-wide temporary enforcement policy suspending or staying a broad array of enforcement efforts for certain environmental regulations and requirements in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Memo states that EPA recognizes that “the pandemic may affect facility … Continue Reading

On March 27, 2020, President Trump signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or the “CARES Act” to provide nearly 2 trillion dollars in aid and relief to individuals, businesses, and other entities in the wake of the spread of COVID-19. Included in the CARES Act are tax and loan provisions … Continue Reading

On March 22, 2020, the Chief Executive Officer of Dallas County, Texas (County Judge Clay Jenkins) issued a “Stay Home Stay Safe” order for residents of Dallas County. The Order takes effect at 11:59 p.m. on March 23 and continues until midnight on April 3rd.… Continue Reading

This post has been updated as of March 26, 2020. On Sunday, March 22, 2020, Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins issued a county-wide Amended Order effective 11:59 P.M., Monday, March 23, 2020, directing all individuals living in Dallas County to stay-at-home, except for certain essential activities, as further discussed below. The Amended Order issued by … Continue Reading

Every business in the United States has been forced to confront the halting effect of COVID-19. No sector of the economy has felt the impact more than the hospitality industry. Hotels saw a drop in occupancy when travel advisories began to trickle in, but subsequent governmental shutdowns and mandatory closures have pushed occupancy rates into … Continue Reading

The Statewide Executive Order issued by Governor Newsom this evening is set forth here: https://covid19.ca.gov/img/Executive-Order-N-33-20.pdf The Order includes the following directives: All State residents directed to heed current State public health directives, found here: https://covid19.ca.gov/ All individuals living in State of California directed to stay at home or at their place of residence EXCEPT AS … Continue Reading

Well, it’s been quite a week for all of us! Our national real estate team has compiled the top COVID-19 questions we received from our clients. The following is a summary of our guidance and suggested action items:… Continue Reading

California Governor Newsom yesterday issued an executive order that reserves the right to commandeer hotels and other similar facilities to serve as facilities for dealing with individuals affected with Covid-19.… Continue Reading

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